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By: Abiodun Adewale
Nigerian sprinter Chidi Okezie is positive that the men’s 4x400m and mixed relay teams will be strong contenders for places on the podium at the Paris 2024 Olympics after their impressive outing at the World Relays in the Bahamas, where they sealed their tickets on Saturday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Okezie played a strong part in qualifying for both events, running back-to-back inspiring races which secured the mixed 4x400m and men’s 4x100m relay spots for Nigeria at the Games.
The 30-year-old, joined by Dubem Nwachukwu, Dubem Amene and Sikiru Adeyemi in the men’s 4x400m produced a time of 3:01.70, the fastest time by a Nigerian male 4x400m team since the bronze-winning team of James Godday, Musa Audu, Saul Weigopwa and Enefiok Udo-Obong ran 3:00.90 at the Athens 2004 Olympics.
In the mixed event, Okezie, Samuel Ogazi, Ella Onojuvwevwo, and Esther Joseph broke the African record and also clocked a national record of 3:12.87. The previous record stood at 3:13.26, set by Emmanuel Ojeli, Patience Okon-George, Sikiru Adeyemi and Omolara Ogunmakinju at the 2023 African Games in Ghana.
“Felt good breaking an African record,” Okezie, who was drafted into the mixed relay team told Making of Champions.
“If we have our legs, and everyone who is able to run does, we will be a threat in Paris,” he added.
Okezie, who won his first gold for Nigeria at the African Games, also spoke on taking the responsibility of running both races in the Bahamas after the contingent was affected by visa issues.
“Being able to qualify in two relays, so, words cannot explain it.,” he said.
“I’m a strength-speed 400m runner so when we got here and few of our guys had visa issues, I knew I was going to be the one to step up and bring the team what we needed.”
Since he started representing Nigeria in 2016, Okezie didn’t win a gold medal for the country until the 2023 African Games in Ghana where he ran a personal best of 45.06s which is also the fastest time by a Nigerian athlete in that discipline in nine years.
